Railway brake



March 26, 1957 C. E. TACK RAILWAY BRAKE Filed Oct. 7, 1954 f Wm. mn.. w m.-

@www @7 Carl E. Tack, Chicago,flll., asslgnor fto American-Steel lalioundr'ies, Chicag'tnlll., a corporatoniofy New 'Jersey Application Dateber J, .1954, No. 460,324

isomma tenias-zot) The invention relates to a railway brake arrangement and particularly :to rafael ,brake zbearn .assembly and brake beam .supporting arrangement.

The invention comprehends utilizing a brake `beam arrangement havingfrictionmeansfathe oppositeends y -thereof engageable-with--the-wheelthreads of -an associated wheel and axle assembly upon movement of the beam.

Particularly, the invention contemplates an arrangement whereby a plurality of hangers pivotally carry the brake beam from the frame, said plurality of hangers being located at the opposite ends of the beam. Additionally, the invention comprehends a novel adapter casting readily associated with a brake beam of the unit type whereby the unit type beam may be converted to the hanger type beam and thus be pivotally carried from the associated truck frame. The invention has particular utility where space limitations or the addition of other types of equipment to the railway car truck prevent the utilization of the conventional slot supporting arrangement for the unit type beam.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a unit type beam with an arrangement whereby it may be pivotally hung from the frame of an associated truck frame.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide an adapter casting which will readily facilitate the conversion of the unit type beam to a hanger type beam.

It is another additional object of the invention to provide an adapter casting which accommodates a plurality of pivotal supports from the beam at each end of the beam thereby eliminating the necessity for a fourth point support heretofore utilized in the art.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the course of the following description and from an examination of the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the railway car truck embodying the invention,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 1,

Figure 2A is a fragmentary view taken along line 2A-2A of Figure 2,

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are respectively side elevational top plan, and end elevational detail views of the novel adapter casting employed in the invention, and

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along lines 6 6 of Figure l.

It should be noted that in the various figures, certain structural details have been omitted where it is believed said details are more clearly shown in one of the other figures.

Describing the invention in detail and directing attention to Figure 1, it will be seen that a railway car truck comprises a wheel and axle assembly 2, said assembly supporting a frame 4 in the usual manner (not shown), as is well understood by those skilled in the art. A brake beam 6 is positioned on one side of the assembly patented Mar. 26, 1957 ICC f2 2 andi'generallyparallelsaheyaxislof-.the assembly, said #beam 6 being Hoffthe truss ty-pe having compression vrand tension members 8 `and 10,3respectfively, said ymembers ``beingfjoinetl=.c:e:1:rtrally thereof Iby a strut-12, which -has -a central slot-1`14 .which v receives andpivotally Jconnects to `a brake lever 16. 'The `brake lever ,'16is operatively connected via pullirods=18-and 20 to-brake linkage -=(not shown) whereby the beam f6 may be moved in 4wheel engagingapositionaslis welbunderstood Yby those skilled 1in the art.

The brake beam f-islprovided with ybrake head-brake lshoe-assemblies 12 adjacentsthe ends of 'the beam, ysaid assemblies being arranged to engage 4the `tread lof the associated wheel. A vilat guidelug 15Y-isformedvonthe fend .-of `lthe@ beam -outboardly ofthesbrakefhead assembly vl2. Thus it will be seen `Athat the beam Vemployed -in the invention is that Ltype 4conventionallyknown.in the art -as 't-he uni-ttype beam, -said unit type beam 'normally *beingreceived within a slot defining bracketformed yon `rthe fra-me andnormally guided linearly by-the slot into engagement with the related wheel tread of the associated assembly.

Frame 4 is provided adjacent its end with a pair of integrally formed brackets or jaws 19 and 21, respectively, the bracket 21 pivotally receives the upper end of a main hanger 23, said hanger being preferably of a rectangular loop formation as is shown in fragmentary Figure 2A. An auxiliary or balance hanger 22 is received within the jaw 19, said hanger 22 also being preferably of rectangular loop formation.

Directing attention to Figure 6, it will be seen that the brackets 19 and 21 are each provided with aligned slots 25, 25, said aligned slots 25 received locking pin assemblies 26, whereby the upper ends of the hangers 22 and 24 are positively held in position within the respective brackets.

Directing attention to Figures 3 through 5, it will be seen that the novel adapter casting is indicated generally at 28 and comprises a base portion 30, said base portion having up-raised arcuate lugs 32, 32 at opposite ends thereof, said lugs defining arcuate pivots 34, 34 and communicating slots 36, 36. A pair of spaced arms 38, 38 depending from the lower side of the lower portion of the base portion 30, said arms having ngers 4), 40 formed on the lower end thereof, said fingers being bent to a normal position relative to the associated arms 38. It will thus .be seen that the arms 38 and fingers 40 define a slot 42 of general rectangular contour, said slot extending transversely of the adapter casting 2d.

Directing attention to Figure 2, it will be seen that the slot 42 of the adapter casting 2S receives the lug 15 on the associated end of the beam 6. The casting 28 may be fxedly and demountably secured to the beam in any suitable manner, as for example by welding as at 44. The pivots 34, 34 on opposite ends of the casting 28, respectively, receive the lower ends or the hangers 23 and 22. Locking pins 46, 46 serve to maintain the hangers 23 and 22 in pivotal association with the pivots 34 of the casting 28.

Thus it will be seen that l have provided a novel hanger type beam arrangement and a novel adapter casting whereby a unit type beam may be converted to a hanger type beam.

I claim:

l. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck, a wheel and axle assembly, a frame supported thereby, a brake beam adjacent the assembly, a brake shoe assembly on the beam engageable with the wheel, a flat lug on the end of the beam, an adapter casting fixed to the lug, a pair of spaced pivot points on the casting, and a pair of parallel hangers having their respective lower ends pivotally secured to the pivotmeans andtheir respe c tiye upper ends pivotally secured to the frame, said beam being movable in an arc whereby the transverse plane of the beam is always at the same angle with respect.v to the horizontal to insure full face engagement between the brake shoe assembly and the wheel and axle assembly.

2. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck, a wheel and axle assembly, a frame supported thereby, a brake beam disposed next to the assembly and having friction means thereon engageable with the wheels, a casting removably secured to the beam, pivot means on the casting, and parallel hanger means pivotally connected to the pivot means and pivotally connected to the frame, whereby the beam is movable in an arc with its transverse plane always maintaining the same angle with respect to the horizontal.

3. In an adapter casting to convert a unit type brake beam to a hanger type brake beam, a base, arcuate pivot means, a pair of arms extending from the base and having the ends thereof bent to face each other.

4. In an adapter casting to convert a unit type brake beam to a hanger type brake beam, a base, means to secure the base to the lug of a unit type beam said vmeans comprising a pairl of spaced arms extending from the base and ngers on the base angularly arranged relative to the arms, and pivot means on the base adapted to operatively receive hanger means.

5. In a brake arrangement for a railway car truck, a wheel and axle assembly, a frame supported thereby, a truss type brake beam disposed next to the assembly, said beam having tension and compression members and having end portions outboardly of said members, friction means on the end portions engageable with the wheels, respectively, hanger mounting means on the end portions of the brake beam, said hanger mounting means being operative to pivotally connect each end portion to a pair of brake hangers spaced longitudinally of the truck, whereby the beam is pivotally connected to the frame and movable in an arc whereby the center plane of the beam is always maintained in a constant angle with respect to the horizontal.

Hopper June 2, 1874 Millen Dec. 15, 1896 

